Renting a car in Japan and driving around is one of the best ways to travel cheaply in Japan now. You can get a great experience, travel easily with pets and kids, stop when and where you want, eat cheaply, go camping, and see the countryside.
There has never been a better time to travel by car in Japan, recent economic stimulus legislature has made highway travel on weekends and national holidays extremely inexpensive if you have ETC (the automatic pay service like EZPASS in the United States).
I’ve driven from a recent trip to Hiroshima up to the Kansai area for about 1,200 (about $12) yen in tolls.
According to this web site (Japanese highway tolls route search) which allows searches of the tolls for weekdays and holidays separately shows that you can drive from Tokyo to Hiroshima for 3,250 yen ($33) in tolls! The regular price is about 16,450 yen ($165) depending on what interchanges you use to get on and off the highway.
You have to buy gas and you’ll need some lunch along the way, but if you are travelling with four people and you can get from Tokyo to Hiroshima for less than 1000 yen each, that is the epitome of cheap travel Japan.
If you are really going for the cheapness you can pack people in the car and drive, sleep in the car, or take turns driving, and then in the morning, find a cheap onsen (hot spring) or sento (public bath) and go freshen up before exploring.
Once you get into town you can park at one of the big malls and probably get your parking validated if you buy something or eat lunch or dinner there.
If you are going to be here for Golden Week this cheap driving deal should be in place every day, and this year’s Golden Week holidays have lined up nicely. The Japanese stimulus plan highway tolls discounts are offered on all of the Golden Week holidays! If you are here otherwise, the discounts are offered on all official holidays.
Before you rent a car or drive you will need to have an International Driving Permit however for some countries you only need a translation of your Driver’s License. Please check on this before coming to Japan because the rules sometimes change.
Thanks for your post,
Actually I spent some time searching for information about the international driving license for Japan and found this site http://www.japan-i.jp/traffic/car/index.html if you really want to travel cheap, I guess the bike is the best option. Well that’s it for my 2 cents comment.
Thanks for a great comment. I totally agree. Bicycles are actually a really good way to get around locally. You can take a bicycle on most trains if you put it into a bike bag, and you can also use ferries and bridges more cheaply. If you go to one of the islands (like Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture) they can be just the right size for biking all the way around them. I’ve heard of people doing bike trips around Shikoku and staying at youth hostels too.